True Love Yours and Mine
by twinmuse
Summary: +COMPLETE!+ Abby and Carter have a falling out and Luka is there to pick Abby up. Also, a person from Carter's past comes crashing back into his life. LUBY FIC!!! My first ER ever! plz rd!!
1. The Shift Begins

D: I do not own ER or any of its characters. I do not have anything to my name, so don't even bother suing me. It'll be a waist of time for the both of us.  
  
A/N: Hey, this is my first ER fic. It takes place before the whole 'to propose or not' episode. It's right around the time Carter was bothering Abby about her drinking problem. And just before the whole episode with Eric, coming to the ER, when they figured out he had the same disease as Maggie. This was actually inspired from seeing the previews. Not sure the exact date or name of the episode, but you get the idea. Please review and tell me what you think!!! This will definitely be a LUBY since God knows there isn't enough of those around!!! And don't hate me for my portrayal of Carter, I've seen some nasty ones for Luka that just didn't match him at all!! So, here goes, enjoy!  
  
{#}  
"It was just ONE drink, Carter! One margarita! Stop pestering me about it, ill you?! I just wanted to go out with my BROTHER!" Abby defended herself as she walked into the hospital lobby to put on her coat. Her shift just began at 12:00pm and she was pulling a 12 hour shift. Carter had been on since 6:00am.  
  
"Abby..you have a DRINKING problem! You're an alcoholic! " he said back angrily.  
  
"I TOLD you that was in the past! When my life was s#!$y and cold! I was going through a failing marriage! NOW..I'm NOT! I'm happy! I love my job! My MOTHER'S even doing well! I just went out to have some fun! Okay?! Drop it already!" she demanded as she angrily pulled off her coat and put all her nurse things in her smock pocket. Carter just through up his hands muttering 'whatever' and stormed out. Abby rolled her eyes and finished putting her stuff away. When she shut her locker, she spotted Luka sitting at the far table drinking coffee.  
  
"Luka! I didn't know you were here!" Abby said surprised, going over and sat next to him.  
  
"Sorry about him." Luka said in that soft/kind voice that just melts all our Croatian lovin' hearts. Abby smiled touched.  
  
"What for?! It's in no way your fault?! Quite the opposite, as a matter of fact." Abby said almost to herself.  
  
"Why's that Abby?" Luka asked as he sipped his coffee.  
  
"Huh?!..oh..um, with you..you never tried to change me. To a way YOU wanted me. You took me for who I was. It was nice. You're the first one in my life who ever was like that. Except for my brother." Abby said truthfully.  
  
"Go figure?" she finished getting up to get to work before Weaver had her head. Luka smiled at that. He finished his coffee and followed Abby, back to work.  
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Just as the day began really crappy for Abby..so was the rest of her day. A woman came in with signs of miscarrying at 4 months pregnant..for the third time. She'd lost a baby boy and a baby girl over the past 3 years after being really difficult to get pregnant. She'd suffered for 5 hours down in the ER trying to keep from delivering. They tried everything they could. All she'd wanted was a son or daughter, to have a family finally. Abby went in just before they moved her upstairs after miscarrying her third baby to do a last assessment.  
  
"It's his way of punishing me..I committed a murder..I should have NEVER done it..it was WRONG!" the woman mumbled through tears.  
  
"It's okay Mrs. Rogers, it's not your fault." Abby tried to comfort her as she did a last check of her vital signs.  
  
"But it IS! I committed a SIN! I took away a life..I'm not God, what gives me the right to ACT like Him?!" Mrs. Rogers sobbed. Abby looked up now, catching on to what she had said.  
  
"What do you mean, Mrs. Rogers?!" Abby asked softly.  
  
"Before Malcolm,..before we were married.. It was an accident. He was just a college fling. I wasn't ready to have a baby..He wasn't either. We figured it was for the best. So..we took care of it. I had.a.an.abortion." Mrs. Rogers sobbed out, not being able to stop now as some nurses and doctors came to transport her upstairs. Abby just stood there, floored. All her hidden guilt came rushing back to her and her chin trembled. She numbly walked out to the front desk, her eyes full of tears, in a daze. And she STILL had about 5 hours to go.  
  
Carter was just getting off. He walked right by Abby, looking at her with an angry stare and said goodbye to everyone else, heading towards the door. Luka was just off to the side, watching.  
  
"Hey Carter..aren't you gonna say goodbye to Abby?" he called to his retreating back. Carter just threw hi hand over his shoulder in a wave.  
  
"What for?!" he called out, stepping out the door. Randi stood next to Luka eyeing the whole scene.  
  
"She seems upset. He saw her, you'd think he'd care." Randi mumbled to Luka.  
  
"You'd think" Luka said, placing his chart in a slot and going over to Abby.  
  
"Hey..Abby, you okay?" Luka asked, full of concern. He placed his hand on her backside gentlemanly, causing Abby to get tingles all up and down her spine, even in her state of mind at the moment. Then she snapped back to what Mrs. Rogers had said and her chin trembled, her tears filling with tears again.  
  
"No" she croaked out, not being able to hold the emotion any longer. She covered her face with both hands, and before she could stop her instinct, she leaned against Luka's chest and started sobbing. Luka instantly wrapped her up in his arms. He stroked her back for a minute and nodded towards Carrie who motioned for her to take off the rest of her shift.  
  
"I'm off right now, let's go somewhere to talk." Luka softly said, leading her towards the lounge.  
  
"N-n-no I'm on till 12." She mumbled, shaking her head. "Not anymore." He said helping her into her jacket. She just nodded, still sniffling. He took her to a little diner/bar and stayed silent while he ordered a big batch of chili cheese fries and beers. After they arrived, Abby had already downed a whole bottle of beer by the time she touched a fry.  
  
"You wanna talk about it?" Luka prodded softly. Abby nodded, but stayed silent.  
  
"Was it about your patient today, Mrs. Rogers?" Luka asked, seeing the look on her face when he mentioned her name.  
  
"Talk to me, Abigail. You were REALLY upset. I hate it when you get upset. Makes me upset." Luka said truthfully. She looked up, nodding some more.  
  
"It hurts." She said after another long pause.  
  
"What does? Are you sick?" Luka said quickly worried.  
  
"M-my heart..my SOUL." She said, getting choked up again. He laid his hand on her forearm, rubbing it comfortingly.  
  
"Shh..it's okay. Just let it all out. I've learned it always helps to talk it all out." He said supportively. He kept rubbing her arm as she calmed down some. So she poured what has been haunting her forever. She went through nearly four beers before she was feeling better. That and she was slightly drunk. He had comforted her the whole time, reassuring her that she would have children one day and even though he didn't believe in abortion, he didn't hold it against her anymore. That he can tell she truly regretted it.  
  
"I think I need to get you home now Abby." He said as he paid the bill and kept an arm around her waist to help her walk. She was only a little tipsy. He drove her home, helping her get through her building door and up the stairs to her room. When he got her through her door, he was surprised when he found Carter sitting on her couch waiting for her.  
  
"Abby? Are you drunk?!" was the first thing out of Carter's mouth as he watched Luka help her to a chair. Abby just gazed at him.  
  
"Yeah..so?" she said, sobering a little to narrow her eyes at him. Luka glared daggers at him too.  
  
"So..you two went on a date, huh?!" Carter said, smiling icily.  
  
"No..she was really upset. We just talked." Luka said going to her kitchen to get Abby some water.  
  
"Oh..I see. Okay, I get it. Goodbye Abby." Carter said through clenched teeth, storming out.  
  
"Carter, wait." Abby tried, angrily. Luka came back and handed her a glass of water. She took it and mumbled a thank you.  
  
"He just won't LISTEN to me for once!" she grumbled, finishing half the glass before peeling off her jacket, with Luka's help, and her shoes and shuffling to her bedroom where she collapsed on her unmade bed and instantly fell asleep. Luka tucked her in and hesitated before kissing her temple.  
  
"Night Abby." He whispered and just before he walked out he heard her sigh.  
  
"Luka." before leaving. He didn't hear her say a moment later, when she sighed again.  
  
"I love you." She murmured as she rolled over and fell completely asleep.  
  
{#}  
  
A/N: How's that? Hope you like it!! LUBY's rock!!! Please tell me what you all think, I really need reviews to make sure I am going at a good angle!! Oh, and don't worry about leaving Carter behind, he has someone return from his past that we all believed was long gone!! Don't forget to review!!! Thanx! 


	2. Like Mother, Like Son

D: I don't own ER. Just borrowing it for awhile.  
  
A/N: Just wanted to first point out that I don't intend to have Carter being a jerk.by the end. Quite the opposite actually. The way I have him acting now is because of the fact that he cares for Abby and it frustrates him to no end that she doesn't see that she has a problem. I am VERY familiar with this type of story line, have gone through it myself with family members and I know what it's like to be in a role like Carters. You are a totally nice person, but when someone you love is destroying their lives right in front of you and they don't seem to get it, you turn real nasty to get them to 'get it'. So, I'm not upset that I got some rather..enlightening reviews on how I was portraying Carter. That just shows me that a lot of you have never had the 'pleasure' of being in a situation like that and THAT I am very grateful for. It's not fun at all. Especially when you are young. I hope this explains a little bit for you. But Carter will still be playing mean for a little bit more, but don't worry, it'll change a lot, promise! But also, a lot of Carby fics have kind of marred up Luka's character too, so I don't really see a problem when it comes the other way around. We all know these fics are like AU's to some degree. Anywho, he's not gonna stay that way forever, so please keep reading!!! I hope I didn't offend anyone or turn anyone away from this story!! I loved writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it!! Please review and tell me what you think, no matter what you think! I read and take into consideration ALL that you guys say!! So, enjoy!  
  
{#}  
The next day Abby came on at 11:00am. She was doing better since she was able to talk it all out.  
  
'Luka was right, it does feel better to let it all out. Abby thought as she helped hold a young boys arm in traction as Susan put it in a bright green cast.  
  
"Abby? Where were you just now?" Susan said, smiling kindly.  
  
"Oh..sorry..had a rough day yesterday..but got to talk it all out and I, surprisingly, feel much better." Abby said smiling.  
  
"Poured your heart out to Carter, huh?" Susan said grinning. Abby frowned.  
  
"No..he wasn't listening this time. No..I went out with Luka. He was SOO sweet." Abby said, kind of to herself, smiling a little. Susan's eyes got wide and she grinned.  
  
"Why, Ms. Lockhart,.do you still have FEELINGS for our Croatian Doctor?" Dr. Lewis teased. Abby looked startled.  
  
"No!..of course not!..I'm with Carter now." Abby said as they finished up. But Susan couldn't mistake the spark in Abby's eyes when she mentioned Dr. Kovac. Susan just grinned even more doing a 'RIIIIGHT!' face. A few hours later Luka came on and his eyes immediately lit up when he spotted Abby.  
  
"Hey Abby. How are you doing?" he asked smiling kindly at her. She couldn't help but grin back and reply.  
  
"Much better. Thanks to you. Thank you Luka. I needed that." Abby said truthfully as Carter went by, having heard the last part of the conversation. Luka nodded towards him when Abby stood staring at Carter's retreating back, a hurt look on her face.  
  
"And him?" he asked.  
  
"Not a word. Just let him be it's obviously over nothing. I'm fine now. If he'd open his eyes, maybe he'd see that. I just wish he wasn't so miserable." Abby commented.  
  
"If it was nothing, he wouldn't be so upset." Luka pointed out. Abby just smiled at him and shrugged it off. Just then a call came in, Luka took off after it and Abby heard a snicker behind her.  
  
"Shut-up Dr. Lewis!" Abby joked behind her, following Luka. For the rest of the day Carter constantly ignored Abby. No matter what she did or said, he just kept his distance, not listening to her. Luka saw how this was making Abby more and more upset. Finally, by the end of her shift, Luka stopped her in the lobby.  
  
"Abby? Where you going now? "he asked when he saw her in one of her 'moods', worried she'd go someplace by herself and something might happen to her.  
  
"It's okay Luka. My brother's in town, he's supposed to meet me for a dinner and some pool. Don't worry." Abby said flashing him a smile at his obvious concern.  
  
"That's impossible. I'll always will." Luka said seriously. Then he flashed her one of his grins and her heart skipped a beat. She forced herself to shrug it off and politely excused herself to meet her brother.  
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By 9:00ish that night, at the end of Luka's shift, Randi got yet another call from Nurse Lockhart.  
  
"No Abby..I'm sure he didn't come OR call. Okay..hey, eat something okay? He'll show." Randi said, before hanging up. Luka couldn't help but over hear.  
  
"Abby's alone? What happened to her brother?" Luka asked, feeling worry creep up his spine.  
  
"She's been waiting for him all night. He hasn't shown or called. She's had one too many from what I could tell." Randi said, shaking her head. Luka still had 45 minutes left to go, but he wanted to go find her.  
  
"Where is she?" he asked, worried.  
  
"A joint called Milo's" Randi said shrugging. Luka nodded then went back to work, anxious for his shift to end.  
  
About 15 minutes later a call came in.  
  
"Kovac! Let's go, we got a multiple victim bar fight! Mostly lacerations and blunt trauma. We need muscle power. They say one guy is nuts!" Susan said handing him a gown. Just then Eric was brought in, barely strapped down, going nuts with Abby followed close behind, walking unsteadily and behind her on a second gurney, a guy with a nasty broken arm and barely conscious.  
  
"Abby?! What happened?! Are you okay?!" Susan said first. Abby didn't follow her; she just followed Eric, with a hand clutched to her side and a sad lost look in her eyes. Once she saw them struggling with him, she came to life.  
  
"Don't hurt him! He's just upset! Let him calm down! Be careful!" Abby yelled out hoarsely slightly slurred. Carter came in the side and instantly saw Abby. First he was scared for her; till he realized what state she was in and automatically jumped to conclusions.  
  
"Abby? What's going on here? Did you get into a bar fight or something?" Carter asked, disappointment in his eyes. Just then Eric went hysterical because the nurses were trying to put an IV in.  
  
"Nooo! No needles! Abby! Tell them to stop! Please!" Eric yelled, completely incoherently. This just broke Abby's heart and she burst into tears.  
  
"It's okay Eric! Calm down. They're trying to help you." She slurred out between her tears. Carter noticed this and got upset again. He HATED when she drank like that!  
  
"You've been drinking again!?! How much did you two down this time!?" Carter said, trying to detain Eric. Abby got fire-eyed and stared back at him.  
  
"He's NOT drunk. He just got there when..DON'T HURT HIM!!!" Abby screamed as Carter, cause he was upset about Abby, used too much force to hold down Eric and Eric cried out in pain. Luka yanked Carter off of him and bellowed for him to get out. That's the only thing that got through to Carter.  
  
"She SAID he didn't drink anything! There's something else wrong here. Everybody! Let him go! Now!" Luka yelled as everyone released Eric and he quieted down instantly. As long as no one was all over him, he didn't feel the need to struggle against them.  
  
"Okay..Eric, we have to put an IV.-" Luka said a moment later in a very calm voice as Abby watched on in awe. Carter felt bad for letting his emotions run away with him and tried stepping towards Abby to speak to her.  
  
"Abby..you shouldn't dr-."he started but was cut off when she glared ice at him.  
  
"Leave. Me. Alone." She said evenly. He just sighed loudly and ripped off his gown in frustration, storming out. He didn't even notice she was trembling, holding her hand to her side, and a small gash on her temple. Susan and Carrie had Eric under control, so Luka went to Abby.  
  
"You need to be looked at. Come on, he's in good hands." Luka said gently steering her to the room down the hall.  
  
"You're gonna need X-rays on that wrist, as well as your head, just in case. I wanna put you on fluids. And a banana bag. You're showing signs of shock." Luka relayed softly. Abby just gazed at him with saddened eyes and nodded. She flinched when he put her on fluids and as he examined her tender wrist. After X-rays, he stitched her cut up using the smallest of stitches so she wouldn't have a huge scar like when she was assaulted awhile back.  
  
"Well, your wrist isn't broken, but you have a concussion. You'll stay overnight, mostly for observation." Luka announced as he came back in with all the results. She nodded.  
  
"And my brother?" she asked in a tiny voice.  
  
"He's in restraints, sedated a little. Only thing wrong was a nasty splinter in his hand and a bad bruise, from the..struggle." Luka relayed as he got a half cast splint ready. (half a cast, wrapped all up in ace bandages) He shaped it to her left wrist. She bit her lip as he did this, her wrist very tender.  
  
"He's got it too..Just like my mom." She said hoarsely, looking up at Luka with tear filled eyes. Luka just looked at her sadly and nodded.  
  
"He'll be evaluated by the psychologist. Put on meds. He'll be okay, Abby." Luka comforted. She just nodded.  
  
"Do they know the history?" she asked as he finished her cast.  
  
"Yes. I spoke with them. So, what happened?" Luka asked, tapping her cast. Abby smirked then, rolling her eyes.  
  
"That @$$ who came in with us tried to hit on me and didn't take no for an answer. When he grabbed my wrist was when Eric came in. He just went nuts..he eventually smashed the guy with a barstool. I guess in the struggle to get Eric to stop I fell and hit my head. Needless to say, we're banned from Milo's now." Abby said, remembering as much as possible. She shuddered as tears came back. Luka rubbed her arm trying to calm her. She smiled at him appreciatively.  
  
"Why are you so good to me?" Abby asked, thinking she already knew the answer.  
  
"You don't have to ask me that." Luka replied, smiling mischievously. They stared at each other a moment till Abby got a little nervous.  
  
"Time to move you upstairs. I'll check on your brother for you before I go. Unless you want me to stay, or call..Carter?" Luka said, not wanting to leave.  
  
"No, Luka. You've done enough. Thanks. And, I just want to be by myself right now." Abby answered. Luka nodded and left. Within the half-hour, Abby was comfortably upstairs, and Luka was on his way home, Abby on his mind.  
{#}  
  
A/N: There's the second chapter, I hope you liked it! You can tell me by pressing the little purple button on the bottom, Please?!?! Love getting reviews, makes me post faster. Next Chapter should be coming soon! Thanx! 


	3. From the Past to the Present

D: Not mine.  
  
A/N: Here's the next chapter for ya' RedWitch! This chapter is for you!! Here's where things change a little bit for all our star crossed loved ones of Cook County. Don't forget to review! Enjoy!  
  
{#}  
Abby was released the next day at 2:00pm and Carrie gave her a week off. She'd be working with her casted hand for 2 weeks after that, so it would be light duty. Her brother was shipped to his base hospital's mental health ward till further evaluation. The last thing he said was sorry to Abby before she watched him leave with two armed officers. She spent the rest of the week of her time off thinking a little about Eric..but mostly Luka. She couldn't stop.  
  
On the day she came back was when she was supposed to get her stitches out too.  
  
"Hey Abby, how you feeling?" Cheng Mai asked as Abby came in on her shift.  
  
"Better, thanks. Is Dr. Kovac around? I need my stitches removed." She said, trying to make it sound business like. Cheng Mai just smiled and nodded towards the end of the hall.  
  
"Exam 4." She said. Abby nodded her thanks and gathered up a suture removal kit before heading in. Carter stopped her just before she entered. She hadn't heard from him since the day of the accident.  
  
"Abby! You okay?" Carter asked, feeling embarrassed for what he did to her brother, but hasn't been able to get passed it yet. She eyeballed him.  
  
"Certainly I'm okay Dr. Carter. It's ONLY been a week since some sleaze ball mugged me at a bar where my baby brother went nuts and attacked him in which I receive a concussion AND 10 stitches on top of a severely sprained wrist. Not to mention finding out that my baby brother, my ONLY sibling, has the SAME disease as my bipolar mother who RUINED my life! But I'm peachy, thanks SO much for your concern." Abby said in a steely voice, not caring that she might have over done it a little. Carter nodded, not surprised that she was mad at him. But he still believed in why he had been upset that day.  
  
"I'm not gonna apologize for what I said, maybe just for Eric. You brought the other issue on yourself with your drinking. I feel bad for your brother, but you did the rest yourself." He said, not raising his voice, just being truthful to what he believed. She just looked at him, not understanding his way of thinking.  
  
"You're a piece of work, you know that Carter?" she said in a hurt voice.  
  
"Abby..lets not fight. We'll just agree to disagree, okay?" Carter said, exhaling big time in frustration. Abby gazed at him a moment and nodded.  
  
"Whatever. I gotta get these out. We'll talk later, okay?" Abby said, softening her voice.  
  
"Okay. Later." He responded giving her a small smile. She smiled slightly back and went into Exam 4. She smiled bigger when she spotted Luka fast asleep on his stomach, his face all buried in the pillow.  
  
'Boy I miss seeing that' Abby thought as she quietly set the stuff down and turned on a small overhead light.  
  
"Luka?..It's me Abby. Wake up, sleeping beauty." Abby said gently rubbing his shoulder. He mumbled and stretched and blinked his eyes open at her.  
  
"Hi." She said in a little girl voice, smiling. She held up the suture removal kit.  
  
"I need my doctor." She kidded as he sat up and hung his feet over, letting them dangle. She sat down next to him, giving him a minute to wake up.  
  
"I'm up. Okay, lay back a minute while I wash up." he instructed, patting where he was just lying. She lay down and instantly regretted it. It smelled like Luka's cologne and she to all but sit on her hands from wanting to bury her face in his pillow and breathe him in. He washed up and came over getting the suture removal kit ready. Ever so gently he removed her stitches. Boy, her heart was in her throat at his close proximity.  
  
'You're with Carter! Pull it together Lockhart!' she thought to herself. He finished up, putting just tight butterfly strips over her scar. At the last moment, while his fingers were still on her chin, they shared a long gaze. Luka broke it after a moment and announced she was done. Abby exhaled big time as she jumped off the bed, thanking him and running out the door so he couldn't hear here pounding heart.  
  
Later that night, Abby was standing outside waiting for a rig, just gazing ahead.  
  
"Earth to Lockhart." Malluci said, taping her shoulder.  
  
"Oh..sorry Dave. Just..thinking." Abby said, tightening her arms around her. Dave put an arm unceremoniously around her shoulders.  
  
"Sorry 'bout your brother. Know it must have been rough. He's all you got, huh?" he said like a big brother. Abby gave him a side ways glance, but nodded.  
  
"Yeah..All I've got is my big sister. She practically raised me too. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to her, but if she were half like you when it comes to me getting into a sticky situation, I'd be grateful. You're a good sister, don't let that block head of a boyfriend hurt that. He didn't seem to get it last week, I noticed." Dave said, in a rare serious moment. Abby nodded, remembering sadly. She realized that the one who was SUPPOSED to be there for her was the complete opposite and the one who was supposed to be long gone was right by her side..GETTING it all. UNDERSTANDING it all. She blinked and smirked a little.  
  
"Thanks Dave." Abby said smiling at him.  
  
"No problem..so..does this mean you'll be free soon? I LOVE to play a game of pool." Dave said, not giving up a chance to get a date with a pretty lady.  
  
"Nah Dave. But I'll play you a game of pool whenever you want." Abby said smiling. Dave just shrugged and pulled his arm off of her as the rig pulled up.  
  
"Better than nothing." He said smiling as he helped bring out the stretcher. On it was a blond woman who was going through withdrawals and all battered up. She wouldn't answer anyone's questions, just kept looking all about at the ER staff. Once inside, the women spotted who she'd been looking for.  
  
"JOHN!" she yelled in a hoarse voice, tears coming to her eyes.  
  
"She hasn't spoken since we found her at the bus stop!" an EMT said. Carter heard his name called, but he couldn't believe whom it had sounded like. They wheeled her into Trauma 1 and tried talking to her again.  
  
"Miss, do you know Dr. Carter?" Abby asked, really interested in how Carter knew someone in this condition. She just trembled more nodding. Abby stepped into the hall.  
  
"Carter! This women here claims to know you. They found her at the bus terminal, she looks like she's going through withdrawals and there's evidence of abuse, signs of rape. Your name is the first word she's uttered since they found her." Abby explained.  
  
"I kind of heard it. She sounds familiar. Who's working her now?" Carter asked, not being able to leave his patient yet.  
  
"Dave and Susan." Abby replied, still curious. Just then Haley came out quickly, coming up to Carter.  
  
"Dr. Carter?!..It's Dr. Del Amico!" she said in a rush.  
  
"Anna!?!" Carter replied in shock, leaving his patient.  
  
"Anna? Who's Anna?" Abby asked, confused.  
  
"One of our old ER docs. Her and Carter had a thing. She just left one day. She helped Carter through a lot when his cousin had his overdose. We always thought they'd last." Haley said, looking in Carter's direction. Dave came out a moment later.  
  
"Told to finish Dr. Carter's case. Where's the chart?" Dave said and grabbed it from Abby's hand. She went back to the trauma room to assist as best as she could.  
  
"Anna? Anna, what happened?" Carter said, helping put oxygen in her nose and listen to her heart.  
  
"H-he..hurt..m-me." She mumbled out.  
  
"Max." Carter said through gritted teeth. She only nodded slowly, her lip trembling.  
  
"Abby! Get the police on the phone! Tell them to send a detective." Carter yelled over his shoulder.  
  
"Sure." Abby replied, noticing the condition Anna was in and not caring about what Carter had to do with it all. She decided to just push all that aside to help the poor women out. She went to Randi and got her to make the call.  
  
"So that's Dr. Del Amico. Poor thing. That @$$hole must of got her good. Knew when she left it'd all go sour. Didn't like the way that guy looked." Randi commented.  
  
"Anna? Anna was brought in?" Carrie asked, hearing her name.  
  
"Yeah. Really messed up too. That peds ortho creep got to her." Randi answered as Carrie hurried over to Trauma 1.  
  
"Anna? It's me, Carrie. Can you tell us what happened to you?" Carrie said in a soft tone. Anna gave her a sad look, then looked up to Carter, lips trembling and tears forming.  
  
"It's okay..we're all here for you. I'm right here. I won't let him hurt you again." Carter reassured, gently pushing her long hair behind her ear.  
  
"Um..he..he got me hooked on-on c-cocaine. Not willingly! H-he forced me to..to prostitute for money. He had a couple of other girls too. It got really bad when I got pregnant.sob He claimed I was no u-use for him anymore. He left me to fend for myself..th-this is the only place I could think of. I started getting with-withdrawals..please, Dr. Weaver..I-I don't know if- if the baby's okay..he..he beat me,.a-and..raped me!..I think I might have still been using in the beginning...few weeks. P-please..tell me if my baby's okay!" Anna sobbed out as they worked on her. Haley had gotten a cop form down the hall to listen in and take notes the moment they knew Anna would say what happened to her.  
  
"John..please..don't hate me!" she whispered, tears just falling now. Carter's heart broke.  
  
"I don't Anna. I never did." He mumbled back, holding on to her gently. Abby felt for this poor women, but couldn't help but feel a little like she just lost her place in Carter's eyes. She shoved that all aside when Luka came up.  
  
"Need any help?" he asked when he noticed Carter comforting more then helping.  
  
"Yes. Dr. Carter, Luka's gonna take over for you. You're too attached." Carrie assigned.  
  
"I'll fill you in on the way to supplies, c'mon." Abby said, leading him out.  
  
"That's Dr. Anna Del Amico, she used to be an ER doc here back with Dr. Ross. They had a thing for each other. Anna and Carter. She apparently left with her old flame, some peds ortho guy they say, named Max. Guess he's not a very nice guy. He got her addicted to cocaine, prostituted her for money along with other girls, and when she became pregnant, beat her, raped her, and left her on the streets to fend for herself. They found her at the bus terminal heading here." Abby explained quickly as she got a rape kit and Kovac got an ultrasound machine when Abby pointed at it. With a limited hand, she couldn't steer the machine.  
  
"Oh...wow..that's tough. Poor girl." He said softly.  
  
"He's VERY upset. I've NEVER seen him like this." Abby pointed out.  
  
"He still cares for her." Kovac said instantly. Then he smiled regretfully.  
  
"Sorry. It's none of my business." He replied.  
  
"No..it's exactly true. He doesn't look at ME that way! I've only seen it once before." Abby said, almost to herself.  
  
"Oh?..When?" Luka asked, getting a curious smile on his face. Abby blushed.  
  
"When YOU look at me." She whispered in a sad/small/girly smile, then she went inside to help start a rape kit. Luka grinned to himself and nodded, pushing the ultrasound machine into the room.  
Anna could barely sit still from going through the withdrawal symptoms. So they couldn't get a great sonogram of the baby.  
  
"How far along do you THINK you are sweetie?" Abby asked as she tried to focus on the monitor.  
  
"sniffle M-maybe 5 or 6 weeks. I didn't figure it out till about a week ago." Anna whispered, clutching Carter's hand tightly. Abby cringed accidentally.  
  
"Nurse Abby? What's wrong?! P-please tell me?!" Anna said pleadingly.  
"He..or she...is small. But there's a heartbeat that's going better than suspected. This little one's a fighter." Abby commented, smiling sadly.  
  
"C-can you get a picture for me?" Anna asked softly.  
  
"Sure." Abby said with a look to Carter that said 'she's in for a tough road'. She got a picture and Anna clutched it as she was transferred upstairs after Luka sewed up the gash on her face, across the top and down the side of her nose, ending just above her cheekbone, on her right side. Her wrist was also broken and she had a number of other minor cuts and tons of bruises; not to mention the infected area where she shot up.  
  
"Dr. Carter, you're off..Luka will cover, go on." Carrie said, motioning towards a retreating Anna. He looked up Luka and nodded thanks, then took off. Abby watched after him, really worrying about Anna. She knew Anna meant a lot to Carter and she didn't want to see him hurt.  
{#}  
  
A/N: Well, there's the third chapter. Told you Carter wasn't gonna be a meanie much longer! Hope you like where I'm going with the story! Press the little purple button at the bottom and tell me what you think! I'd REALLY love y'all for it! Next chappy up soon! Don't forget to review! Thanx! 


	4. Previously in the ER and Revelations

D: Not mine. Just borrowing for a while. No suing needed 'cause I ain't got nothing!!  
  
A/N: I KNOW all the apologies in the world won't cut it for how long it has been since I last updated. Or any excuses either, but I HAVE been really busy with school and catechism classes, it is Lent now and VERY close to Easter where I will receive my First Communion, then shortly after, my Holy Confirmation. It's really exciting, so I hope you understand!! Here's the next chappy, updating even though I just broke the tip of my middle finger on my right hand (SMASHED it good at work, OUCH!!). Enjoy!! (oww!)  
{#}  
When Abby got off, she went upstairs to find out how Anna was doing. She went to her old stomping grounds, greeting all of her old co-workers. She found Anna in a sliding glass room 'High Risk' room directly across from the nurse station.  
  
"Hey..came to see how you were doing. I'm Abby. I helped you downstairs." Abby said, just being sure she remembered her.  
  
"Y-you took my baby's picture f-for me. Thanks, you did a good job." Anna mumbled.  
  
"Carter?" Abby asked, wondering where he was.  
  
"He's calling out the marshals on Max. He's using his 'name' to get through red tape." Anna replied, getting better on the trembling.  
  
"Need anything? I can get you the hook-ups up here." Abby smiled.  
  
"Yeah? Have you kids here?" Anna asked, touching her stomach. "No.no, no. I worked her for like..7years. I helped deliver hundreds of babies. I even delivered one of Carol's babies." Abby commented.  
  
"Carol?! One of..with Dr. Ross? Where are they anyways?" Anna asked, wondering where her sister-friend went.  
  
"Oh! Carol and Doug had twin girls; they weren't together when it happened. See Doug left to be a Ped's attending in Seattle in an ER 'cause of a case he and Carol helped a terminal boy die at home using a drug machine illegally. He left, but Carol couldn't. She wanted to stay here at County. Shortly after, she found out she was expecting, then found out it was twins and on Thanksgiving she went into labor, first baby Tess, was born down in the ER by Carrie, Green, me, and Helay. Second one, Kate, had to be C-sectioned up here. Carol almost bled out, they almost did a hysterectomy, but Dr. Green got them not to. She was okay in the end, raised the twins on her own for about 6 months. Doug visited, I heard. But one day, something caused her to finally go live with him. We all miss those cuties. We all became attached. 'Specially Luka and Dr. Green. Kate was named after his mom. He's the twins godfather. Well..WAS." Abby explained. Then her eyes flew up.  
  
"What?" Anna asked, worried.  
  
"Did you know? Did Carter tell you?" Abby wondered. Anna looked more confused.  
  
"Dr. Green passed away. About 6 months ago. He had a brain tumor, he tried treatment and surgery but didn't beat it." Abby said softly. Anna looked shocked. She got teary eyed.  
  
"No! Not Mark! He was so good to me. Whenever I got pushed down, or needed a pep talk. He was always so nice to me." Anna said, unbelieving.  
  
"Yeah, left two daughters and Elizabeth behind." Abby said, shaking her head sadly. Anna looked confused again.  
  
"Two? Rachel I remember, but 2.. Why Elizabeth?" Anna said lost now.  
  
"Oh! Mark and Elizabeth got married and had a little girl..Ella..she's about 2 now. She's adorable. Dr. Corday just came back to us a short time ago after moving back to England to get over her loss. Rachel's with her mom now. She'd been living here with them the last months. He died in his sleep in Hawaii surrounded by his family." Abby explained. Anna just nodded, soaking it all in.  
  
"Gosh, I've missed so much. How's ah..Dr. Benton then..last time I was here, Liz and him were dating." Anna asked, feeling very comfortable about talking to Abby..like they had known each other for a long time already.  
  
"He left after Carla died to be around Reece more. Yeah, she died in a car wreck. Roger, Carla's husband, and Peter have joint custody of Reece now. He's getting big too, learning sign language well..." Abby said, going on and on. She never really touched on the subject on what happened to Carter and Lucy. She just explained that 'something bad happened that changed Carter immensely.' And that he'd have to explain it to her. But the end result is how he and her met up and became friends. Just then Carter came back in with paperwork. He didn't look very happy.  
  
"Hey Anna, how are you feeling?" Carter first asked, nodding to Abby.  
  
"Better. Stopped trembling so much. What's going on? You look worried." Anna asked.  
  
"Um..we can't find Max. He's not around. He must of left the city." Carter replied, grimacing.  
  
"Coming here." Anna finished.  
  
"He could NEVER just leave me be. He can't let go." Anna mumbled as tears formed. She curled in a little ball, putting her IV'd arm protectively over her stomach. Her right arm, covered in the pink cast, lay on top.  
  
"John.." Anna murmured looking up scared.  
  
"It's okay Anna. He won't touch you. We won't let him near you. I won't." Carter reassured. Abby realized it was getting late so she stood to leave to let Anna rest.  
  
"Get better Anna, don't worry. You're safe here." Abby commented, smiling encouragingly at her. Anna nodded back mumbling a thank you.  
  
"Night Carter." Abby said. Carter nodded towards her and said over his shoulder as he reached for Anna's hand.  
  
"Night Abby." He said. Abby noticed this then and some wheels started turning in her head. She'd have to talk to Carter about it. She couldn't quite explain it yet, but she suddenly felt lost and..lonely. She didn't feel like going home, to an empty apartment. So she decided to go find some company to be with.  
  
"Wonder if anyone's getting off downstairs. Maybe I can take Dave up on that game of pool." She thought as she got the elevator down to the ER. Sure enough, Dave was off just then.  
  
"Let's go to Rusty's. You're not thrown out of that place too, are you?" Dave kidded, swinging his arm around her shoulders. As they walked out, they found Luka waiting just outside the doors.  
  
"Hey Dr. Kovac, come watch me DESTROY this little lady at pool. She'll need a knight in shining..uh..scrubs to save her." Dave kidded, clapping his hand on Luka's shoulder. Abby smiled shyly at him.  
  
"C'mon Luka. It'll be fun. I need that right about now." Abby said softly at him, giving him a smile that tugged at his heart.  
  
"Alright. But I play winner." He agreed, smiling as Dave attempted to through his other arm around Luka's shoulders, the height variances a little hard to maneuver with between him and Abby.  
  
Out of Anna's window, which faced the ambulance bay, Carter caught a glimpse of the threesome as they left and his jaw tightened. He was jealous in a way. Really jealous. He definitely needed to bring this up with Abby in the morning. Just then Anna mumbled his name, waking some. She was reaching for his hand. He walked back over to her and sat down beside her once again, clutching her hand tight as she fell instantly back asleep.  
  
At Rusty's, Luka was now playing the winner of the first match.  
  
"Abby! Your shot!" Luka called while Dave sulked at the bar.  
  
"Don't be a wuss. I beat you fair and square. You owe me some hotwings. Pay up." Abby teased as she went to finish off her next victim. Dave still couldn't believe she beat him, WITH a casted hand to boot!! Luka didn't mind getting beat by her though. A couple of hours later, as Luka and Abby half carried a drunk Dave up to his apartment, they kept doing the eye contact, look away game. Once they were sure Dave was safely passed out on his bed with the door locked behind them and a note for him to find in the morning; which by the way had an I. O. Abby a pizza AND a breakfast on him, they left his place. Since Abby took the El to work, Luka drove her home.  
  
"Thanks for tonight. I needed it." Abby said, smiling up at Luka at her door. Luka gazed down at her with a longing in his eyes that mirrored her own.  
  
"You know...I miss you. Terribly." Luka said in a quiet voice, looking down at his feet, not knowing why he just said what he said. Abby looked up at him and they met eyes for a moment. She smiled at him shyly and whispered back.  
  
"I know." Then leaned over quickly, kissed his cheek, and mumbled a quiet 'Night' and hurriedly went into her apartment and shut her door. She then leaned heavily against the door, and closed her eyes, sighing and trying to get her heart to slow down.  
  
'What is going on here?! I'm supposed to be with Carter, right?? CARTER! Not Luka?!' Abby thought thoroughly confused. On the other side of the door, Luka leaned his forehead against the door and mutely said Abby's name.  
  
'Abigail, I do believe I'm still in love with you. I always was.' Luka thought before giving her door one last glance and left. Abby heard him finally go down the stairs.  
  
"I've gotta talk with Carter. I can't be in denial anymore." Abby said to herself. Then she trudged off to bed, content for now to just remember the great night she just had hanging out with Luka and the fourth lost Stooge.  
{#}  
  
A/N: That's it for now!! Next chappy things get all heated between Carter and Abby. Then some more LUBY action!! Hope you liked it, please R & R and tell me what you think!!! I only ask for a few since it's been so long since I updated. That, and it doesn't take much to please me!!!! Happy Belated April Fool's!!! Hope you did some prankstering and not pranked yourself!!! Don't forget to update!! Thanx!! 


	5. Dr Kovac, with the candlestick, in the E...

D: I do not own it. I am a broke college student who still lives at home, living off my parents like a leech. Don't even bother.  
  
A/N: Hey, sorry it's been so long to update. My fractured finger has kept me away, sadly. And now it takes twice as long to do any homework 'cause it's on my writing hand. Oh, well, at least it's much better now. More bearable. Going on my retreat this coming weekend, so I won't be able to update on the weekend when I have days off. Sorry! I'll try to make this one extra long for yah! Enjoy and don't forget to review to let me know what you think!! And not a lot more of 'mean Carter', I promise!  
  
{#}  
The next day, Abby was off. So was Dave, thank goodness, so she stayed home cleaning her apartment top to bottom for a change. Carter didn't answer her message earlier in the morning, and by now, Abby was a little worried. She finally called over to the maternity ICU and asked about Anna. She was happy to hear her 'cousin' was doing so much better. But she also got her answer about where Carter had been. He'd been with Anna the whole time, never leaving her side. She couldn't be upset that Anna had someone there for her when she was going through so much. Finally, by 6:00ish, Carter stopped over to Abby's as she read up on some of her old med books she ran across.  
  
"Hey, you DO know how to return a call..a little late..but,..how's Anna?" Abby said, a little sarcasm in her voice. Her page WAS ignored most of the day; she had a right to it. Carter smiled a little guiltily.  
  
"Better. How's Dave?..Did you two,..and Luka have a nice time last night?" he asked, putting his own hint of sarcasm in his voice. Abby's eyes widened.  
  
"You SAW us? Were you checking up on me or something?" Abby asked, somewhat offended. Carter just smiled, shaking his head.  
  
"Did you?" he asked back, wanting to know why she asked about Anna.  
  
"Carter!? I'm worried about Anna too! She's a good friend. I called to check up on her and they mentioned you'd been with her all day and night!" Abby explained, not completely letting him know she felt a little jealous. But it wasn't the same for Carter.  
  
"Right, concerned about a 'friend'. What about Luka?" Carter said back bitterly.  
  
"What about him?" Abby defended.  
  
"I felt a little down yesterday. I went out with some friends..'cause YOU won't! There's no crime with that! He's a nice guy and so is Dave!" Abby replied back. Carter just shook his head at her.  
  
"Look..Carter...I think..there's something between you and Anna. I saw it the moment she came here. The way you look at her, you don't look at me that way. And..obviously she has something for you. She needs you right now and I'm not gonna jeopardize that for..THIS. This..isn't THIS anymore anyways. Not for a little while now. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Abby said in a lower, calmer voice. Carter stood in front of her, staring at her as she spoke.  
  
"Maybe..we should just move on." Abby said softly. Carter stood there fuming a little, but deep down he knew it was true. But he hated to give up so easily, no matter what he knew the outcome was going to be.  
  
"What? So now when I get a 'friend' you dump me, even though you have 'friends' like Luka and Dave around? At least I never slept with mine." Carter bit out then regretting it. Abby's eyes teared.  
  
"Get out..I thought you'd understand..obviously not. Just leave! And don't DARE insult me again! I never ONCE held Anna against you when any girlfriend in their right mind would have. She doesn't deserve that! Oh, and I will still be keeping in touch with her." Abby said through her tears and clenched teeth as she led him to the door and closed it on him. Carter balled up his fists, shaking his head at himself then stormed off. Abby curled up on the floor and sobbed. No matter what, it still hurt.  
  
Around 7:00pm or so, after crying for awhile, Abby finally picked up her keys and left. Before she could stop herself, she ended up at Luka's.  
  
'Please be home' she pleaded to herself as she knocked. Behind the door she heard some stumbling and a muffled 'coming'. Then Luka opened the door, looking completely exhausted.  
  
"Abby? What's wrong, you okay?" he asked, full of concern. She shook her head no.  
  
"Can I come in?" she hoarsely whispered.  
  
"Yeah, sure, c'mon." he said, ushering her in. She walked in and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.  
  
"I just got home. It's a good thing you caught me before I crashed. Pulled a 16 hour." He said tiredly.  
  
"After what..4 hours of sleep?..Gosh, I'll go..let you sleep, I don't even know why I came over here." She said quickly, heading to the door.  
  
"No!..stay..I want you to." Luka said softly. He had her hand in his. She looked down at that and just broke down.  
  
"Gosh! How can I be so dumb!.I..I broke up with him. He...he didn't exactly see things my way...he said some harsh things I know he probably regrets.." Abby trailed off, a sob coming out as she remembered the fight. Luka's jaw tensed at what Carter had put her through. He became, I guess you could say, very prejudice against ANYONE who hurt Abby in any way. No matter who they were.  
  
"Don't cry. Please..he's not worth it." Luka pleaded softly, reaching for a tissue and handing it to her. Abby giggled sarcastically, shaking her head.  
  
'I'm not crying for HIM!' she thought.  
  
'Why AM I crying?!' she just shook her head some more, completely mixed up and confused.  
  
"Listen, why don't you crash here. I don't mind and I don't think you should be alone right now. Besides, it's not anything new." Luka said, smiling lopsidedly. Abby grinned through her drying tears and nodded her head as he led her to 'her' couch.  
  
"I'll try once again to let you have the bed." Luka tried, knowing it was fruitless.  
  
"No, no..go get some rest Luka. I'm fine here...and thanks." Abby said, taking the offered pillow and blanket. He came back out a minute later with a pair of sweats and one of his t-shirts. He handed it to her and she looked up at him a moment.  
  
"Thought you'd be more comfortable in these. Night Abigail." He said softly in his thick accent. She whispered a thank you and went to the restroom to change and wash up. When she came back out there was a glass of milk and some cookies on the table in front of the couch. She grinned and ate them up then fell asleep instantly.  
Then next morning around 9:00ish, she woke up alone. She found a note saying he was paged in to the ER. There was a huge slam and they needed him.  
  
"Why didn't he wake ME up!?" she mumbled, but noticed a little arrow on the bottom of the note, so she flipped it over. She got teary eyed when she read it:  
  
'My grandmother always taught me you never wake a sleeping angel for it would cut off their path from heaven, and where would this world be if there weren't any angels? -I know I'D be forever lost without a certain angel. Hope you slept well. Luka  
  
She folded it up and smiled, placing it in her purse. She went to the bathroom, taking a quick shower before putting on her pants and found one of Luka's smallest scrub tops and put it on, rushing to work. When she arrived she was greeted with chaos's evil brother. The entire ER was full of people, she couldn't even think straight.  
  
"There you are Lockhart, I've been paging you for the past hour!" Carl yelled.  
  
"I didn't get a page.." Abby said reaching for her pager. It was turned off.  
  
"I didn't turn my pager off. Who-" Abby said confused, shaking her pager to check to see if the batteries were acting up.  
  
"I did. You were sleeping." Luka said as he came by with a chart. She looked up at him and smiled, holding his gaze a moment.  
  
"Your grandmother is a very smart women." Abby commented, causing him to smile shyly and shrug.  
  
"Nice top Abby." Susan commented teasingly at the oversized scrub top. Luka grinned as he walked by, not missed by Susan's eyes.  
  
"oh!..You have HIS on!?! Abby, spill!" Susan said, as she glanced at the board at the same time. Abby rolled her eyes, but blushed.  
  
"Me and Carter..I guess broke up..I was upset. Nothing happened! I just fell asleep on his couch." Abby tried to explain innocently.  
  
"WITH him!?!" Susan said in a hushed voice.  
  
"No! He slept in his room like a perfect gentleman." Abby said, feeling like she needed to defend Luka's name.  
  
"OOOh..what a KEEPER! What on God's green earth let him slip through you fingers?!" Susan commented before rushing off.  
  
"That's what I'M starting to ask myself." Abby mumbled as Kerry handed her a chart and rushed off.  
  
"And for goodness sake's Abby, get a top that fits!" Kerry yelled over her shoulder as she rushed off.  
  
An hour later, Abby was knee deep in patients.  
  
"WHY did there have to be a stampede at a ROCK concert?! Why couldn't it be a..Celine Dion concert or something?" Abby complained, pissed that yet another patient cursed her out. She was at admitting to turn in a chart when just then a huge commotion broke out at curtain area 1 and Abby watched in horror as a big burly 'fan' pick Luka up by the throat and bash him over the head with a huge, heavy metal candlestick. Luka slumped in the man's arms and wasn't even conscious as he was thrown through the glass window of the Trauma Room then falling to the floor on the outside.  
  
"LUKA!!" Abby yelled rushing to him as 3 different men jumped on the patient.  
  
"Get a gurney over here! And bring a C-collar fast!" Abby yelled as she kneeled down and began to support Luka's neck.  
  
"Carter we need your help over here! Luka's been attacked!" Chuney yelled. Abby glanced up just a second to see Carter hesitate, just standing there staring like he was frozen. Abby's blood boiled.  
  
"Carter!! NOW!" Chuney yelled again. He suddenly snapped out of it and got to work, going into complete doctor mode. They placed a C-collar on him with complete stabilization to a backboard. ((Been there, done that, for real, VERY scary!!)) They then wheeled him into the Trauma Room after they lifted him to a gurney.  
  
"Luka...open you eyes. Wake up Luka." Abby said as she assisted Carter and now Kerry.  
  
"He's got multiple lacerations on his back, a deep gash with a head wound,..and pronounced swelling around his throat.." They went on.  
  
Half an hour later they had Luka on a ventilator due to the swelling of his windpipe and throat. His skull gash wasn't bleeding anymore and was sewed up and the 5 cuts on his back ranging from superficial to one deep one on his left shoulder blade were being sutured up by Susan. Abby had never left his side.  
  
"Okay, It's onto the Cat-scan to see if any possible fractures or damage to his skull." Susan told Malik as he began to move him upstairs. Abby followed, holding the air bag, pumping it.  
  
"You going up with him Abby?" Susan asked, Carter just off her shoulder listening as he set the chart on the bed.  
  
"Yes." She simply said as the doors closed in the elevator.  
  
After the CAT scan revealed a small fracture, but not serious, they moved him to ICU until he woke up. Once they did a final assessment, they pronounced him in a light coma. Abby was teary-eyed when she made it back down to the ER to try to finish her shift.  
  
"What're you doing here? Go back upstairs with Dr. Kovac. We all can cover for you, no problem." Chuney said when she saw Abby pick up a chart. Susan and Kerry walked up after finishing a patient.  
  
"How's Luka doing Abby?" Kerry asked softly. Abby got teary eyed some more.  
  
"He..he's in a coma." She said in almost a whisper. Everyone looked down, shaking their heads. Just then Dave walked in for his late shift.  
  
"Hey...gosh..who died now?" he asked seeing all of their faces.  
  
"Dave!!...Luka was attacked by a patient..he's in a coma." Susan said, swatting at him. Dave's face fell. He immediately looked over at Abby.  
  
"Hey, sorry Abby. Why don't you go be with him? We'll cover down here. That's cool, right chief?" Dave asked Kerry. Kerry saw the look on Abby's face and nodded.  
  
"Go on. It's quiet now. If we really need you, we know where to find you." Kerry said. Abby nodded, handing her chart to Dave.  
  
"5 year old, got his hand stuck in his little sister's dolls head. Losing feeling in his fingers." Abby relayed as she headed to the stairs. Carter was just coming down the stairs then.  
  
"Where you going?" he asked, wondering where she was to when she was supposed to be on her shift.  
  
"To Luka. How's Anna doing?" she asked, concerned.  
  
"She's okay." He answered, and then they stood there for a moment, Abby looking at him to say something. When he walked away, Abby sighed, rolling her eyes. He didn't ask how Luka was even doing.  
  
Abby stayed by Luka's side night long, keeping vigil. As she sat there, surrounded in the glowing lights of his machines gazing at him, she realized the truth. It was like something clicked in her heart. In her soul. She leaned over Luka in the wee hours of the next morning and kissed his forehead.  
  
"Luka..I know you can hear me...I love you." She whispered, a single tear falling down her cheek. Just then his heart monitor beeped radically, and then stayed at even steadier pace. Abby just smiled and curled up against the bed, her hands grasping his arm, and she laid her head on them, dozing off.  
{#}  
  
A/N: There you go!!! Hope you like it!!! And please note that I am NOT a doctor person or anything so if the medical stuff is off, sorry!! All I know is what I kind of remember from my own accident/ambulance ride to the ER!! PLEASE PLEASE review and tell me what you think!! I haven't gotten a lot and it's kind of bumming me out!!! Next chappy will be up ASAP!!!!! Thanx! 


	6. Truth and Birthday Presents

D: Not mine.  
  
A/N: Here's the next chapter as soon as I could, I just got back from my retreat, it was so much fun and such a beautiful ranch too. Hope there is SOME one who is still reading this, but as long as there's one out there, I'll still write! Love to hear from you guys so PLEASE review and tell me what you think?!?! Pretty please? Now, enjoy!  
  
AA/N: Oh, and thanks to those of you (had a couple) who reviewed to tell me the correct spelling of people's names. If the world depended on my spelling to save it, we'd all be screwed big time!! So thanks to those who gave me the correct spellings.  
  
{#}  
[left off with Abby falling asleep sitting with Luka, holding his arm]  
  
That's how Kerry found her later that morning when she came in to check on her ER doctor.  
  
"Abby? Why don't you go get yourself something to eat? Stretch your legs." Kerry said, frowning at the way Abby grimaced at her kinked neck. Abby stole a glance at Luka worriedly.  
  
"Sure. Felt like some coffee anyways. You on?" Abby asked as they walked out.  
  
"Just off. Just came to see how Dr. Kovac was doing. Get something to eat. We might need you down there later." Kerry said as they split apart. Abby got some muffins and coffee and decided to take a detour to the maternity ward. She stepped in Anna's room just as Carter was leaving to work his shift. They wouldn't look each other in the eyes.  
  
"Your still here?" Carter asked, confused at how early it was. The visiting hours weren't open yet.  
  
"He's in a coma Carter. If you'd been adult enough to ask, you would have known. He's a colleague too Carter, at least give him that much respect." Abby said harshly, very tired and fed up. Carter looked a little guilty and nodded his head.  
  
"Okay. I'm sorry, but yes..he's a good doctor. We're lucky to have him. It's too bad, I hope he comes out of it..he's a good asset to the ER." Carter said softly, smiling sadly.  
  
"Thank you." Abby said softly back, smiling slightly at him then going in to see Anna.  
  
"Hey girl. How ya' feeling?" Abby asked, sitting in a chair.  
  
"Much better. They're letting me out tomorrow." Anna said, eyeing Abby. Finally Abby caught Anna staring.  
  
"What?!" Abby said innocently.  
  
"You two split, huh?..'cause of me?" Anna asked, feeling guilty. Abby smiled and nodded.  
  
"But it was for the better. We're BOTH interested in someone else." Abby stated, munching on her muffin. Anna looked at her a little confused, but deep down knew whom Carter's someone else was.  
  
"C'mon Anna..you have to notice the way he looks at you. He didn't look at me like that. Not HIM anyways." Abby announced.  
  
"Really?!...Yeah..well, who does for you? You said 'not him'." Anna asked, intrigued. Abby got teary eyed suddenly.  
  
"Luka. Luka Kovac. He helped you down in the ER..but now.." Abby stumbled, her lip trembling.  
  
"HE'S the one in the coma! Oh, Ab, I'm so sorry. What happened? I heard something about a fight?" Anna asked.  
  
"A patient. Attacked him. Hit him over the head with a candlestick. A HUGE one." Abby said. Anna couldn't help but smirk a little.  
  
"Like Clue? That's bizarre, but sounds appropriate for the ER." Anna commented. Abby giggled tensely.  
  
"The bands name the patient came from after the stampede was called 'Jack Be Nimble'." Abby said, shaking her head.  
  
"He'll pull through. You've been here all night?" Anna asked, scooting her journal, accidentally knocking it to the floor.  
  
"Yeah..here you go..is that writings?" Abby asked when she caught a glance of a page. Something else she found in common with Anna.  
  
"Yeah..just stuff I wrote down..songs. For a little while now. It's a way to release stuff." Anna shrugged. Abby TOTALLY understood.  
  
"Can I?" Abby asked. Anna shrugged shyly.  
  
"Sure." She said handing it to her. Abby munched on her muffins while she read the journal, dated back for a year or so.  
  
"These are amazing Anna. You should do something with them. Seriously." Abby commented as she got up, handing her the journal. Anna just smiled and shrugged.  
  
"I have a journal of my own.. I'll let you peek at it sometime. I'm gonna find a change of clothes to steal. I'm in room 214, in the ICU. Call if you need anything. Thanks for the shoulder." Abby smirked as she left. She took a quick shower in the employee showers and found some pink nurse scrubs to wear and went back to Luka's side, once again holding his hand, sitting vigil. All through out the day people from the ER would pop in to see Luka. Susan stayed on her lunch break with Abby. In the early afternoon another guest showed up. Someone Abby was NOT expecting.  
  
"Carter? What are you doing here?" Abby asked, taken aback.  
  
"We need to talk. Is that okay? Can you?" he said in a kind voice.  
  
"Sure. Sit down." Abby said gesturing to a chair. He looked up at Luka a moment, seeing the tube breathing for him, and smiled sadly.  
  
"First off, I'm not a monster. He's a damn good doctor, I hope he pulls out of this." Carter said truthfully, looking at Abby for understanding. She nodded, smiling.  
  
"I know. I was married to one, so I think I can tell the difference now." She answered softly, smiling. He grinned at that.  
  
"Next..this...what we have...or should I say had?" Carter asked, not sure how to word it.  
  
"Yeah..I think that's appropriate in one sense." She said, then pausing to let him finish.  
  
"I mean..I wish it hadn't ended so BADLY." He said looking up to her. Abby snorted.  
  
"Oh..it wasn't that bad. Now..me and RICHARD!? That was bad!" Abby joked. Carter just smiled and looked over to Luka. She followed his gaze and nodded to herself, taking a deep breath.  
  
"You love her. I see it in your eyes. The way you are around her." Abby said softly. He looked down at his hands.  
  
"I've seen that look before. In someone else." Abby continued, eyeing Luka. Carter witnessed and nodded too.  
  
"Yeah, I've seen it too. I think that's got me jealous. It was always there." Carter said, catching her eyes. She snickered dryly.  
  
"Now..why couldn't you TELL me sooner? Before we did all of THIS?!" Abby half joked. Carter grinned at that as she gazed at Luka, watching the machine pump air in and out.  
  
"You love him don't you?" Carter asked suddenly. Abby kept gazing at Luka a long moment before nodding slowly and grinning, turning with tears in her eyes. Carter nodded once more at her.  
  
"Good. He's a good person. He always took care of you." Carter added truthfully. There was a long pause as Abby watched Luka.  
  
"Carter." Abby suddenly said in a tiny voice. He glanced up to see her face crumpling and her chin trembling.  
  
"Will he ever get to know that?" Abby cried softly, in a whisper. Carter got up and gave her a hug.  
  
"Yes...the girlfriend stealing S.O.B. will." He said, believing it. Abby choked out a laugh and smacked him on the arm. He stepped away, heading to the door.  
  
"He'll be fine." Carter added.  
  
"So will she..eventually. It'll be tough right now; you've gotta be there for her. But she'll be okay." She said as he left. He smiled and headed to the maternity ward. Abby ate some dinner and curled up once again next to Luka's side, holding his arm and hand tightly in her grasp.  
  
Around midnight, actually a few minutes after, to make it officially August the 17th, Abby sensed something that made her wake up. She slowly turned her head over and stretched, yawning. She rubbed her eyes then instinctively looked up to Luka. Only this time he was staring back. She startled a moment, then grinned.  
  
"Hi." She simply said. He nodded slightly like 'yeah, back at ya'  
  
"How long were you awake? Awhile?" she asked. He did a so-so hand movement. His eyes were very droopy and unfocused. He was able to motion for something to write though. She grabbed a pencil and paper from the drawer and held the paper for him to write. On it he wrote:  
  
Happy Birthday  
  
Her eyes brimmed with tears and she instinctively looked at her watch, but was surprised to find it turned the other way, not like her usual way on the inside of her wrist.  
  
"That's how you knew!! You looked at my watch! You saw the date AND remembered!" Abby realized shocked. Luka just shrugged lazily.  
  
"Bet you would like that tube out of your throat, huh?" she asked as he kept drooping his eyes. He was really tired.  
  
"You were in a coma Luka. For almost 2 days. You scared the s#$t out of me!" Abby said, gently stroking his hairline on his forehead. He gave an 'I'm sorry' look before closing his eyes again from her touch.  
  
"Let's pass on removing that tube just yet. You seem a little tired still." She realized. He wasn't completely ready yet. She went to the nurses' station to tell them he woke up and responded to her. They took note of it and took down his vitals. They'd have the doctor come see him first thing in the morning. Abby curled up once again next to him, facing him, and Luka was aware enough to place his hand along side her cheek/neck and softly stroke her face with his thumb like a little kid who twiddled his hair to fall asleep. They both dozed off soon after.  
By 10:00am the next morning Luka was off the vent, just nose oxygen and sitting up. He couldn't stop looking into Abby's eyes.  
  
"You heard EVERYTHING I said, didn't you?" Abby said shyly. Luka just smiled back. He couldn't talk much from having the vent tube down his throat. He also never let Abby's hand go. Just then Luka got a special visitor.  
  
"Hey Dr. Kovac, nice to see you again. Only not in such a good way, this time I guess." Anna said from her wheel chair Carter was pushing her in. Carter smiled to Abby.  
  
"Told you so." Carter said in a singsong voice causing Abby to role her eyes and smile.  
  
"Hello" Luka croaked out, waving. He finally gave up speaking and pointed to Anna and did an 'OK?' sign, then pointed down to her tummy motioning a 'Baby' sign with another 'OK?' sign. Anna giggled then nodded.  
  
"I'm hanging in there..the baby...we're just praying." Anna said softly. Luka nodded understanding.  
  
"I get to get out of here today. You follow suit soon, ya' hear? Give my girl here some relief." Anna ordered kiddingly.  
  
"See ya Kovac. Great to see you awake." Carter commented as he wheeled Anna out, nodding goodbye to Abby.  
  
"Baby?" Luka croaked out hoarsely. Abby looked sadly at him.  
  
"It's gonna be real tough. It's less than 50-50 she'll carry to full term, let alone the baby living." Abby said, shaking her head. Luka patted her hand, feeling bad too. They moved Luka to the D.O.U. by the afternoon, in a private room. Everybody downstairs came to say hi. One person in particular came to visit..with a HUGE bouquet of red roses and babies breathe with an angel baby doll holding a birthday cake.  
  
"These are for you. I didn't know it was your birthday Lockhart." Carl said. He winked at Luka when Abby was busy with the card. He left quickly with a nod towards Luka and a thumbs up sign. Abby finished reading the card, stood up, leaned over, and kissed Luka practically back into his coma.  
  
"You..are the BEST!...gosh, Luka..I LOVE YOU!" Abby blurted out. Luka looked wide-eyed, smiling like a fool.  
  
"I..love..you..too." he whispered out whole heartily. She leaned over and kissed him again, then placed kisses all over his face to his delight. He giggled throatily and they gazed at each other for a long moment.  
  
"Luka...I'm sorry. For everything. I was just confused. The last time I got even close to something like this, I jumped headfirst, got married, and then was miserable. I got scared before because what we had was SO much more...I thought it'd hurt twice as much. But now.." She confessed, getting teary eyed.  
  
"Now what?" he nudged a little.  
  
"You SCARED me. REALLY bad. When I saw you fall to the ground like...like you were GONE...I ...I felt like I'd die on the spot. I've NEVER felt like that before." Abby explained, trying to put her feelings into words.  
  
"Sorry...I'm okay now." He said hoarsely, tucking some hair behind her ear.  
  
"You...with you...I feel complete again. Like before." He choked out. She grinned at that leaning over and kissing him long and sweet. This time she climbed up with him on the bed, curling up against his chest, falling asleep. That was the scene Susan found when she stopped late to visit and give Abby a birthday gift.  
  
"Well, if this ain't a Hallmark moment. Gonna have to get a picture of this for the lobby board." Susan whispered, finding a camera machine on the maternity floor and going back to snap a couple pictures. It didn't even disturb them. She left shortly after, smiling away.  
{#}  
  
A/N: There's the next chappy for you! Review and tell me what you think of it!! I'll try to update soon, I'm on Spring Break right now, but it's Easter week, so I have a lot of church things to attend since I'll be getting my First Communion Saturday night at Easter Vigil, how excited I am!!!!!! Don't forget to review, even if it's just to say hello, Hi, or whatever!! Thanx! 


	7. Strawberries

D: See previous chapters.  
  
A/N: Thanks for the great reviews!!! They totally made my day so much better after such a sad Easter. See, my new (born Friday, 18) is VERY sick. He was 2 weeks early, but seemed fine till Friday night when they took him to the NICU cause he was having trouble breathing. By late that night they had him on a breathing tube and all these IV's and stuff. They don't know what's wrong with him. The next day he got off the tube but wasn't eating. But by the next morning, today, they had to put him back on it plus another IV. He's not eating either. He's the first baby for my cousins and he is already so special cause my cousin Star was almost sure she couldn't have kids when she found out she was pregnant. I'm so worried about him, so if you guys can, say a little prayer for my baby Brayden. He could sure need it. Thanx! Okay, now that the sad part is over, my sister and I did receive our First Communion on Easter Vigil Saturday night. It was so pretty and fun. Now on with the story. Don't forget to review!! I'll try to make this one a long one!!  
  
{#}  
Luka remained in the hospital for 2 more days before being released. And Abby didn't allow him to go back to his place.  
  
"I'm gonna take care of YOU now. And besides, I have cable." She insisted. So while she was at work, he watched TV until about 1-½ weeks later he came back to work. The day after his first day back, he sat in the suture room as Abby slowly took his stitches out of his back. Every time she placed her hand somewhere on his bare back, they would both blush. Finally, Luka cleared his throat and smiled devilishly.  
  
"If you keep touching me like that I'm liable to keel over and bump my head again, Abigail." Luka said throatily. Abby just grinned shyly.  
  
"If I don't finish quickly, we're BOTH not going to make it back to work." Abby mumbled, pulling at the edge of her collar. Since he had still been recovering...not a lot HAPPENED over the last week and a half. And boy was Abby getting tense!  
  
"Okay, Dr. Kovac, you are now officially stitches free. You can take that med bracelet off now." Abby said stepping over with some scissors. As she stood in front of him, holding his wrist to cut off his bracelet, Luka placed hi hand on her waist, drawing her nearer. Abby inhaled and bit her lip.  
  
"Luka..we need to get back to work." Abby whispered.  
  
"Uh-hmmm" Luka mumbled, taking her hand in his other one. He finally got her closer enough to kiss her and all her will power flew out the window. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he put his arms around her waist tightly. They were completely unaware of the rest of reality when Susan burst in.  
  
"Abby..oh...I'm SO sorry! Um, we need you two...as soon as your...FINISHED here. Sorry!" Susan said, grinning then leaving. Abby, still wrapped in Luka's arms laughed.  
  
"Oops." Luka said. She kissed him once on the nose and pulled him out the door with both hands, grinning like a fool. As Luka came to admit to get a patient chart, Jing-Mei grinned devilishly at him.  
  
"Why Luka...that shade of lipstick looks good on you. Let me try it sometime." She joked, causing Randi and Susan to sputter a laugh. Abby grinned to her feet as Luka turned red and turned away to wipe at his lips. Abby murmured a 'sorry' as she passed by and heard him whisper 'I'm not' which caused her to grin even wider.  
  
Later that night, Abby got off work and tiredly trudged home. Luka had gotten off a couple of hours ago; he was on light duty hours for at least another week. When she opened her door to her apartment she froze when she saw candles all over illuminating the whole place. Then she looked down and saw a trail of rose petals; red, pink, and yellow, leading towards her short hall that led to her room. She grinned widely and instantly her heart started hammering against her rib cage.  
  
"Luka?" she ventured as she set all her things on the table and followed the trail after closing the door. On the floor just outside her room she found a long stemmed rose, barely beginning to blossom. She kneeled down and picked it up, smelling it and smiling. As she grasped it she noticed a tiny string attached to it then felt a tug as she was gently pulled into the room. There were even MORE candles and rose petals in there. And Luka. Grinning as he pulled the string till Abby was standing right in front of him.  
  
"Hi." He whispered smiling. Abby gazed up at him, tears in her eyes.  
  
"Wow...Luka. This is...amazing!" Abby said, looking around. Next thing she knew he was kissing her neck. She closed her eyes, her heart about to burst.  
  
"Gawd...I've missed you." Abby mumbled, her knees growing weak.  
  
"Me too." Luka whispered in her ear as he took the rose from her hand and set it on the nightstand. He cupped her face in his hands and said softly.  
  
"Abigail..I love you with everything I am. You are the most important thing in my life. So...I wanted to show you that." Luka said, gesturing to the room. Abby looked wide-eyed.  
  
"Oh." She said, not able to unlock her eyes from his. A tear fell from her eye and Luka wiped it away, growing concerned.  
  
"Abby?" Luka said confused.  
  
"I..It's just...N-no one's EVER done or-or SAID all...this to me before. I-I've NEVER felt this way before! Only when I'm with you Luka! It's like- like I'm...complete." Abby tried to explain, trying to put what she was feeling into words. Luka grinned, then mumbled back.  
  
"Oh." And raised his eyebrows. This caused Abby to grin, giggling then grab Luka's face and pull him into a long, passionate kiss. And it didn't stop there. A little later Luka brought in some strawberry's as he blew out most of the candles in the living room and some in her room. Boy, Abby had NEVER known how many different creative ways you could eat a strawberry!  
  
The next afternoon at work Abby was on cloud 9. Susan saw her approach the admit desk to grab her first chart and gawked.  
  
"My word! Abby Lockhart, you're positively glowing!! Look at that face! If you smile any wider, it'll split in two! What's going on?! And where'd you get THAT drug, I want some!" Susan said jealous. Abby looked blissfully up at Susan.  
  
"Oh no. This one is ALL mine!" Abby said smiling. Susan gave her a pleading look.  
  
"Luka...SURPRISED me last night." Abby replied, finally caving.  
  
"With WHAT?!" Susan said bewildered.  
  
"Candles...rose petals...STRAWBERRIES...hmm..." Abby said, getting all nostalgic at the strawberry part.  
  
"Oh my gosh!..Wow! Must have been..-" Susan said raising her eyebrows.  
  
"Fabulous. Wonderful. AMAZEing!" Abby listed, grinning. Susan just nodded.  
  
"I BET! I'm glad to see you so...HAPPY. I'm JEALOUS of course, but glad. Hey...if ya let em go...let ME know. I'll snatch him up!" Susan joked. Abby shook her head violently.  
  
"Oh no. I'm NEVER letting Luka go. EVER again. I'm desperately in love with the man. I couldn't live without him." Abby said truthfully. Susan just nodded and grinned as she left to attend to a patient.  
  
"Thought I'd try." She replied.  
{#}  
  
A/N: So there's the next chappy. Hope you liked it!!! I realize it's not so long, but lots of fun fluff!!! More to come soon!!! Please R and R and tell me what you all think!! I love hearing from you!! I'll try to update quickly, but I am also in the process of typing up my sister and I's Alias fic. Be on the look out for that if you are a Syd/Vaughn/Jack/Irina fan!!!! Thanx! 


	8. Sad Hearts and the Ring

D: See previous chapter.  
  
An: Here's the next chapter, up a little later than I wanted, but there's a lot of bad stuff happening in my family. My spring break basically sucked, except I did get my First Communion. But my great grandfather died, in a car crash. Go figure that's how a nearly 90 year old would go out. Then my baby cousin was born 2 weeks premature, figured to be fine. Only he was rushed to the NICU and put on a ventilator and all these things. They think he has pneumonia or under developed lungs. He keeps taking one step forward each day only to take two steps back. Poor Baby Brayden. Say a little prayer for him for me. Anywho, now that you're all depressed, here's the next chapter, for real this time.  
  
{#}  
Over the next month or so, everything went smoothly. Abby and Luka were inseparable, constantly getting 'caught' while on call. And no matter what it was, Abby found herself falling in love with Luka over and over again. And same for Luka, as soon as he thought he had Abby pegged, she'd surprise him again with something new.  
  
With Carter and Anna, things were coming along well. Carter finally told Anna all about what happened with him and Lucy. Anna saw the scars and she even went with him to visit Lucy. Anna healed up from her injuries, had a second surgery on the scar across her face, but there would always be a slight scar. She got her cast off and her pregnancy was going as well as possible.  
  
Abby and Anna continued their friendship as well, going out on 'girls night out' dates and double dates. Luka and Carter mended their ways with each other and now had a good friendship between them.  
By Halloween, everyone was invited to Carter's family Halloween party, benefiting the children's ward at County. Abby and Luka went as Dr. Love (Luka) and an Angel. Carter and Anna went as Cinderella and Prince Charming. The party was a blast and the audience even got a glimpse at both Anna and Abby's hidden talent of singing.  
By Thanksgiving, Anna began to show and was about 4 ½ months along. She was doing pretty well, feeling pretty good. So when she went in for her monthly check up, she wasn't expecting such a shocker.  
  
"I'm sorry Dr. Del Amico. It clearly shows your baby to have a whole in the heart." The OB/GYN finalized after her ½ hour appointment turned to 2 ½ hours. She was in tears when Abby popped her head in, looking for her 'cause she hadn't shown up for their lunch date.  
  
"Abby!" Anna cried out the instant she saw her best friend.  
  
"What's wrong An? What is it?" Abby said alarmed, going over to her side. "Her baby has a hole in the heart. Actually...if you're interested, I can tell you the gender." The OB/GYN said, trying to lighten the mood some. Anna nodded.  
  
"Please." She mumbled, gripping on to Abby's hand.  
  
"It's a little girl." Abby said, knowing her sonograms. Anna nodded, crying even harder.  
  
"I'll go get Carter. He'll be here in just a sec, hold on Anna." Abby said then, rushing out the door and heading to the staircase, not even bothering to wait for the elevator. She rushed to the ER searching everywhere for Carter.  
  
"Babe...where's Dr. Carter?" Abby blurted when she ran into Luka. He took one look at Abby's face and instantly answered.  
  
"Trauma 1. He just got a GSW. I'm free right now, want me to cover?" He said, running with her over to Trauma 1.  
  
"Please...Carter! You need to get upstairs. To Anna. She needs you." Abby hollered over the commotion. Luka came up with a gown and gloves on and motioned he'd take over.  
  
"Why? She okay? What's wrong?" Carter asked, growing alarmed.  
  
"It's the baby...a little girl by the way. And no, she's not okay. Just go to OB." Abby relayed staying to help with the GSW. She eyed Luka with a forlorned look and he smiled sympathetically at her. This was the part Abby said would be tough. She knew it from all her years experience in OB. She just prayed this precious baby girl had a chance.  
It took a couple of days for Anna to really grasp reality again. Carter took the days off with her, to be by her side. Out of the blue one night, Anna looked up to Carter, as they lay wrapped up together on the couch, just enjoying each other's presence.  
  
"John..." she said deeply, a serious/determined look in her eyes.  
  
"Yeah hun?" he answered as he softly rubbed her belly.  
  
"Marry me." Anna said evenly. John looked wide-eyed.  
  
"Excuse me? I-I thought I was supposed to ask that?" Carter said smiling in shock.  
  
"Well..I'm asking." She said strongly. He looked her deep in the eyes, seeing her determination. And love.  
  
"You..you are my WORLD! Right now...a-and..forever! I need you...to BE this for me right now. I don't believe I can make it if you're not. Am I making any sense at all?" Anna asked in a rush. Carter cupped her face.  
  
"Absolutely. Can you pause..for just a moment? I'll be RIGHT back." Carter said grinning. He went to his room then came back out holding his hand behind his back.  
  
"I just wanna show you something. Something that will tell you my answer." Carter said, grinning shyly. He handed her a black velvet box. Anna inhaled sharply, her eyes instantly tearing up. She gingerly opened it up revealing a gorgeous engagement ring.  
  
"Oh..John...OH...it's beautiful! But..when?!-" she started sputtering.  
  
"I was gonna ask you, but the whole thing with the baby came. I was all prepared for a Thanksgiving announcement after that, but...you beat me to it I guess." He said smiling his little boy smile.  
  
"SO..Anna Tara Del Amico, yes I will marry you." Carter stated officially, rounding the whole moment out. She burst into giggle/tears as he placed the ring on her finger then proceeded to silence her tears with a kiss that lasted the night.  
The next afternoon Anna had lunch with Abby, but didn't tell her the news yet. She wanted Abby to see the ring herself. So she ever so slightly put it on 'display'. By the middle of lunch, Anna was ready to burst. Abby STILL hadn't seen it! So she dramatically exhaled and placed her left hand on her cheek, resting her head. Abby looked up catching on to her attitude, then noticed the shining ring and her eyes bulged out.  
  
"Oh. My. GAWD! What is THAT?!" Abby hollered, causing heads to turn.  
  
"Oh, this ol' thing? It's just an..ENGAGEMENT ring. Nothing biggy." Anna played off.  
  
"Ahh! He asked to marry you EARLY?!" Abby yelled. Anna looked shocked as Abby cringed at her blunder.  
  
"YOU KNEW!?!" Anna exploded.  
  
"Oops..yeah...I sort of..HELPed find the ring. But that was ONLY after he THREATENED me! And 'cause you told me about that ring of your grandmothers that was lost. He's VERY manipulative Anna!" Abby pleaded. Anna took a breath and considered this.  
  
"Okay. I forgive you. But he didn't ask me EARLY. He didn't ask at all. I. Asked HIM." Anna stated smiling proudly.  
  
"Wow! That's different! How sweet!" Abby said, gazing at the ring.  
  
"You know, you should follow. In tradition to the ER docs and nurses. You know, Jeanie asked her man. Same for Laurie." (made that up.) Anna suggested, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"What?! Yeah right! Luka'll never want to get married. He was already...it'll probably be too hard for him." Abby sputtered out, waving her hand and shaking her head sadly. Anna eyeballed her friend's downcast face, getting an idea.  
  
{#}  
  
An: So, there you go, hope you liked this one. Not much of Luby stuff, but some Carna for yah to hold you over. And some fun Abna. (I just wanted to make up the goofy combo names!) Please review and tell me what you think!! I'll try to update as soon as possible, between homework, work, and praying for my baby cousin Brayden. Don't forget to review!! Thanx! 


	9. Winter Wedding and It Begins

D: Don't: Own them; own ANYTHING for that matter, so; even bother.  
  
An: Hey, sorry it's been such a long time since I updated. There was a sudden death in the family that tore my whole family, related and not, to pieces. Still don't quite grasp the whole thing, but enough blues for now. Here's the next chapter for you guys, hope you like it, I'm getting towards the end on this one, but my twin sis, Astacia of twin*muse, has an awesome ER story to put up in the near future. Hope you all read it, I can't wait myself, hadn't had a chance to read it either. Anywho, Enjoy!!  
  
{#}  
Before long, the news of the engagement was spread. This gave Anna something happy to get ready for. She went for constant doctor appointments; the baby girl continued to grow, yet slowly. By Thanksgiving, Anna was about 6 ½ months. She'd been planning for her and Carter's Holiday wedding all the time now. She contacted her 6 brother and sisters (3 in front, 3 in back if I remember correctly) and had her 2 sisters as bridesmaids, and Carter had her 4 brothers as groomsmen. Abby was Anna's Maid-of-Honor, to Abby's surprise. Her comment was 'Your sister's are gonna HATE me!'  
  
And Carter's best man? Or shall we say best woman? Kerry Weaver.  
  
"Dr. Weaver? Can I speak to you a moment?" Carter asked shyly on afternoon in the ER.  
  
"Sure, let's go grab a coffee." Kerry said as they walked into the lounge. She got them both cups and they sad at the table.  
  
"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Kerry asked as she sipped her cup.  
  
"My wedding. I've been thinking about this awhile. You've always been so great with me. Took care of me, with rehab, before, now. You've always supported me. I was wondering if you'd be my best man..well best woman." Carter asked, nervous as all heck. Kerry sat stunned, tears forming in her eyes. She was speechless.  
  
"You were my first choice." Carter added. Kerry nodded, smiling.  
  
"John Carter. I'd be honored. THANK you." Kerry said, squeezing his hand.  
  
"Great! Set you calendar for December 14th. We're getting married quickly cause.." Carter said, not finishing. Kerry nodded, understanding.  
  
"It's what she'll need." Kerry answered.  
  
So, Kerry, Abby, 2 sisters, 4 brothers, and Elizabeth (Liz has been hanging with and talking to Anna this whole time since she's been back) were the wedding party. Also, Ella was the flower girl with Reece being the ring bearer. There was no way Peter wasn't going to be a part of Carter's wedding.  
  
After Thanksgiving, it became hectic. Arrangements made, dresses picked and sized, church chosen, reception place, etc. Since it was winter, it was a winter theme. Long sleeve dresses with coats to match. Her color was soft pale blue with pale pink roses and flowers. Very snowy and angel like.  
  
Anna was almost 7 months when the big day came. A gorgeous day with a blanket of snow covering everywhere. As Mr. and Mrs. Carter danced, Carter whispered in Anna's ear.  
  
"My life's complete. Got a blessing, with my very own blessing on the way and an extended family that is a mile long!" Carter said, grinning. Anna started crying.  
  
"Y-you consider my baby, ..your b-blessing?! She's.." Anna mumbled.  
  
"She's my little girl. Maybe not by blood..but I still believe her as mine. Always will." Carter interrupted. Anna started crying a little more, baffled.  
  
"I don't DESERVE you! You're a saint!" Anna cried, grabbing his face and kissing him soundly. Their honeymoon was spent relaxing comfortably at a cute bed and breakfast resort a few hours away.  
  
By Christmas, Anna was having more trouble. She was just about 7 ½ months. 4 days before Christmas, on the 20th of December, she landed in the hospital.  
  
"Dr. Weaver, seen Dr. Carter?" Randi asked.  
  
"Why?" Kerry asked.  
  
"His new wife's being admitted upstairs." Randi answered a scared look on her face.  
  
"Anna?! What's wrong?" Kerry asked worried, looking about the room for Carter.  
  
"She's having trouble. With the baby." Randi answered, frowning.  
  
"Oh Lord." Kerry mumbled, racing to the suture room where it said he was with a patient. She went in and found him sewing up a kid's chin.  
  
"Now...be careful next time you decide to ice skate..skateless on your frozen pool, ok buddy?" Carter kidded.  
  
"John..it's Anna. She's admitted upstairs. They say the baby's in trouble." Kerry said softly. He looked horrified and bolted out the door. As he neared the stairs, he bout knocked Abby over, Luka only saving her at the last second.  
  
"Where's the fire!" Abby joked, not seeing his worried face.  
  
"Anna! The baby!" Carter yelled as he ran up the stairs 3 at a time. Abby looked crestfallen.  
  
"And now it begins." She mumbled. Luka leaned down and kissed her temple, putting his arm around her.  
  
"We just have to pray for the best." Luka murmured, leading her back to the ER to work until they heard word on Anna and the baby girl's condition.  
{#}  
  
An: Sorry so short, but I'm doing this in between my uncle's wake and funeral to keep me occupied. Hope you like it, I know it's not a lot of Luby, but I'm a huge Carna fan too, and this is a big time for them. I'll be getting to Luby soon, do review and tell me what you all think. Or just to say hi, anything. Need some pick-me-ups right about now. Lame jokes welcomed also!! Thanx! 


	10. Angels, Sirens, a BIG night, and the end

D: See previous chapter.  
  
An: Here's the last chapter, up as soon as can be. This one will be a little bit longer than the last one. Please read and review, I'd love to hear from everyone. I'd love it if I rounded out this fic with 20. Oh, and to all the die-hard Luby's out there, what WAS that hug all about?? Okay, can we say 'meant to be'? And yes, there is proof that the 'Angel Carter' CAN be a jerk!! It IS possible!!! Anywho, please don't forget to review and enjoy!!  
{#}  
[previously] "John..it's Anna..the baby's in trouble.  
Carter ran up the stairs past Abby and Luka.  
"And now it begins...we just have to pray for what's best."  
[Now]  
Well, what ended up being best was for little Lali Amarise Del Amico to be born, on Christmas morning, via a C-section weighing in at a whole 3 pounds 3 ounces. She cried her little broken heart out, hanging on for dear life.  
  
Christmas Day night, Abby and Luka went in to visit the little 'present'.  
  
"Hey Carter. How is she?" Abby asked, all in scrub stuff with Luka close behind.  
  
"She's a fighter. She isn't even on a respirator, just forced air." Carter said smiling, referring to the nose pressure machine that forced air in. IV's on an arm and a foot, twice as many heart monitors and a pulse ox and feeding tube.  
  
"She's so tiny. How's Anna?" Luka asked.  
  
"Recovering. She's so upset. She blame's herself. Lali (pronounced: Lay-Lee) hasn't even met her yet." Carter said, gazing at her.  
  
"She still awake?" Abby asked once she had touched Lali on the hand.  
  
"Yeah. I just left from her room." Carter said and Abby left the two men there to watch over Lali Amarise.  
  
"Gorgeous daughter you've got there." Luka commented as he smiled down at the impossibly small baby.  
  
"Thanks." Carter mumbled.  
  
Abby went and saw Anna, cried with her, and comforted her as much as possible. On the day after, Anna got to visit her baby girl. Her 'darling girl, given by God' which was what Lali translated to in Indian and Hebrew.  
By New Years, all her siblings, Liz, Kerry, and everyone got to at least see Little Lali. She was doing as well as expected, but not well enough to even attempt the risky surgery to fix her almost unfixable heart.  
  
Anna was released and visited several times a day, as much as possible. Carter as well. Abby even took shifts to watch over Little Lali.  
  
Just after New Years, Anna and Carter approached Abby and Luka and asked them to be Lali's Godparents. They of course excepted. By the end of January, Lali was released to go home, with oxygen and a heart monitor attached. Anna would do anything to take her home. For whatever time she had with her baby girl. They had figured she'd probably never be healthy enough to attempt surgery, so when that came about, Anna told them she was bringing her daughter home.  
  
The day after, they had Lali baptized, Abby holding her at the church Anna and Carter got married at. For 2 wonderful weeks Anna was a mom, Carter a dad. She loved having Lali home. All 4 pounds 11 ounces of her.  
  
Sadly, to Anna's broken heart, on February 9th, Little Lali Amarise Del Amico-Carter passed away peacefully in her mother's arms as dusk settled over Chicago. Carter, as a licensed doctor, called it as Anna rocked her in her rocking chair. On February 12th they had a beautiful memorial service. Anna did grieve, but she knew that Lali was in a better place, not suffering or in pain.  
  
For Valentine's Day she visited her baby girl, promising her she'd not be sad anymore, then went home and actually celebrated the holiday with her husband. A red rose lying over he daughter's grave:  
  
Lali Amarise Del Amico-Carter.  
  
Dec. 25th 2001- Feb. 9th 2002  
  
In our hearts forever, may she be in peace with the angels.  
  
Not long after, Anna returned to work part time. She loved it. And she started singing, at Abby's advice from before. Once they both realized they both could sing, they started working together. Abby helping Anna with her songs; Anna backing up Abby.  
  
By the end of March, they had a whole line of songs put together with Abby's old band from back home, when she sang when she was younger. (Made that up.) Carter decided to put together a gala benefiting preemie birth defect studies with the 'County Sirens' they called the girls now. It was an all out ball, with formal dresses, tuxes, and jewelry.  
  
Anna performed 'Cry', 'When the Lights Go Down','Beautiful', and 'Back to You' with Abby back up. Abby performed 'Woman in Me', 'Is There Life After Love', 'Forever and For Always', 'I'm Jealous', and 'When You Kiss Me'. ((Okay, in my weird psycho head I believe Anna could sing like Faith Hill, so I chose her songs for Anna. And that Abby sounds like Shania Twain, so I chose songs off of a couple of her CD's; I'm just borrowing them and please don't think I'm Looney Toons for thinking they sing these songs and not the actually singers themselves. It's an AU, work with me.)) The entire benefit was in memory of Little Lali.  
  
By the end of the night, to Anna's nudging, Luka took the stage nervously. Abby looked up quizzically, figuring he was just going to say something on behalf of his Goddaughter. Boy was she wrong.  
  
"Hi...I'm up here on this special night for a special baby girl to ask a very special woman an important question. .Abigail Lockhart...you mean everything to me. You are the reason I can breath every day, why I wake up in the morning, why I was born. I love you with everything that I am and I wanted to know...will you marry me?" Luka said in a choked up voice, kneeling down still holding the microphone. Abby sat stunned, mouth gaping, eyes flooding with tears. She covered her mouth with her trembling hands and stepped tentatively towards Luka. She nodded slowly; whispering a yes only he could hear then wrapped her arms around him and cried. Everybody cheered as he placed the ring on her finger. Anna winked at Luka, doing a high pitch whistle.  
  
Their wedding was set for 2 months away. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding, somewhat small. Only Anna (maid of honor) and Susan with Dave (best man, he'd always rooted for the two of them) and Carter. Ella was the flower girl/Ring carrier. It was very beautiful, her colors being pale purple with soft yellow flowers.  
  
Their honeymoon was spent in Florida, on a beach resort. Needless to say, 9 months later, Abby gave birth to a 7lb. 6 oz. baby boy. His name was Nikolas Daniel Luka.  
  
On the same day, very surprising to everyone except the two new mommies', Anna gave birth to another baby girl. 6lbs. 5 oz. and 100% healthy. Her name: Audra Michelle Carter.  
  
Anna and Abby already had bets that their kids would hook up.  
THE END  
An: Well, there it is!! My first ER fic ever!! Hope you all enjoyed it!! I loved writing it!! And be on the look out for my sister's ER fic, Astacia of twin*muse. Not sure on the title, but she keeps hinting it is really good!! Please Review and tell me what you all think of my first ER fic!! Thanx!  
  
Now, I'd like to thank ALL of the reviewers who helped me on the way:  
  
andie RedWitch nikki Esme Kay not-so-dumb-blond Elisa ashley Kristina Matulic Banana belle 


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